


Different from the Rest

by peggin



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 05:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10914945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggin/pseuds/peggin
Summary: Neal Caffrey is different from any other criminal Peter Burke has ever pursued.





	Different from the Rest

When Neal Caffrey first turned up on Peter Burke’s radar, as far as Peter was concerned Caffrey was just a criminal, no different from the rest of them. Maybe more talented and clever than most, but still, a bad guy at heart.

He could remember the exact moment his opinion began to change.

About six months after he’d first started trying to catch Caffrey, he was working another case -- a kidnapping. Five-year-old Melissa Wright, whose father was senior partner in one of Manhattan’s most reputable law firms, had been taken and was being held for half a million dollars ransom. They had good intel naming Ryan Wilkes as the ringleader, but no information on who else was involved. They had tracked down where the girl was being held, but couldn’t move in yet without risking putting the child in danger.

So they were doing what they always do -- sitting in the van, watching and waiting -- when a figure clad all in black approached the side of the building. They watched as he got up on the fire escape and began climbing to the fourth story window. Just before entering, he turned fully towards the van and they got a good look at his face.

“Hey, isn’t that your boy, Caffrey?” Agent Chapman asked.

“Sure looks like him,” Peter agreed. “Maybe we’ll be killing two birds with one stone tonight.” But, even as he said it, something didn’t sit quite right with him. If Caffrey was working with Wilkes, why was he going up the fire escape?

A few minutes later, he got his answer. On the far side of the building, where they didn’t have good eyes, they saw what appeared to be a black-clad figure shimmying down the drainpipe with a large package on his back. When he reached the ground, the figure lowered the package to the ground, and Peter realized the package was actually a child. He watched as Caffrey squatted down, whispered something to the child, and pointed in the direction of the van.

A moment later, Caffrey seemed to vanish into the shadows, and the little girl began running towards the van. Peter left the van and met her outside just as she reached the door.

“Are you Agent Burke?” the little girl asked.

“Yes, I am,” he replied, squatting down next to her.

“The nice man said you would take good care of me. He asked me to give you this.” Melissa handed him a note.

Curious, Peter opened the note and read:

_Dear Peter,_

_I know you’ll make sure this little girl gets home to her parents. Sorry I couldn’t stick around, but I’m sure you understand. Better luck next time._

_Give my best to Elizabeth._

_XOXO  
Neal_

Peter had to laugh. Maybe he’d had Neal pegged wrong, after all. Neal was still a criminal, and it was still Peter’s job to catch him and make him pay for his crimes, but maybe he wasn’t as much of a bad guy as Peter had been assuming. There was something about Neal that was different from the rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the "I've moved" note Neal left for Peter in the Pilot, which he signed “XOXO, Neal.” It has always put the idea in my head that Neal used to send Peter other notes, signed in the same manner, when Peter was chasing him.
> 
> Also inspired by the first season episode, Front Man. Ryan Wilkes insisted that Neal has screwed him over and cost him $500,000, and Wilkes also seemed utterly confident that Neal would put his own life at risk to save the life of a kidnapped girl and a random stranger at a travel agency. This is my explanation as to why.


End file.
